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Thursday, August 23, 2012

WHY I AM AGAINST MLR

It seems that light rail supporters exist inside a world of self delusions.
They have successfully been able to separate themselves from the reality of the world around us.
They don't seem to realize that record number of people in America find themselves on FOOD STAMPS.

They don't understand that transit agencies around this country have gone after RIDERS (by cutting services) and their EMPLOYEES (by cutting health care) to keep the insanity going.

Executive salaries never decrease, not only do executive salaries never decrease but the already FAT BLOATED bureaucracy keeps getting FATTER AND FATTER.

We have our very own executives whining about the $5 million that it will cost to keep our decent health care, all the while spending $250,000,000 PER MILE to build this silly light rail line to a town of 20,000 people. The total is $1.5 billion yet the elite whine about our measly $5,000,000.(oh but the money can only be used for expansion the apologists tell us. I say to them, do you not see with your very own eyes a system that is fixed to do the bidding of the elites?)

I am against MLR for the same reason I am against the war in IRAQ.

It's pornographic, worse than the worse pornography that you find on the internet.

They raised up the fares on a population that is dependent on transit and REALLY CANNOT AFFORD this additional expense.

And they abrogated our contract and left us with medical expenses that we thought we had covered.

All the while spending $1.5 BILLION DOLLARS on a train to a little town.

MLR insults my intelligence.

"We don't have any money" they tell us.
"We have to cut service" they tell us.
"If we don't have a 'sustainable' labor contract all will be lost' they tell us.

All the while building a $1.5 BILLION dollar light rail to a tiny town.

But some say, "the feds are giving away the money should we not take it?"
Does that justify any of the above? Absolutely not! The feds are just part of the insanity.I don't support MLR because it is pornographic.

5 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Sorry but you live in LA LA Land. As a former drive you should know that all the salaries for everyone one that works for Tri-met can be found online. Drives can make as much as anyone that works there. And asking the the Union, which I am all for protecting workers rights, to pay for a small percent of health care coast is reasonable. You need to go to other cities and check out how much public transportation costs compared to Trimet. Cheers Mr. Ranter.

"And they abrogated our contract and left us with medical expenses that we thought we had covered."

There are lots of countries nowadays where you can get top notch med. care for far less than the cost in the States. It's referred to as medical tourism. And the church based hospitals do take people in when they have no insurance although the doctors may not let you off easy; they usually want their money. And no hospital will turn you away in an emergency. If they do it's because they have the beds filled and you wouldn't get in anyway. Now ask yourself why would there be too many people there ahead of you and you would have a better understanding of what is going on in our "health care crisis."

Light rails serve as trunk lines for a transit system. Unlike bus lines, they can't just be moved which makes them more solid to build around. America has been neglecting this idea for way too long and now the painful changes are coming. Relying on one form of transportation is foolish. Gas prices aren't going to get much better so get used to it. We need a strong system that supports trains, buses, trucks, cars, and bikes. This pipe dream of the love affair with the car is just that. I love my car but I used transit as well so I practice what I preach.